Allegri applauds Juventus for City success

• Massimiliano Allegri thanks his players after Juventus beat Manchester City to qualify
• Juve coach says, "We've qualified with a game to spare in the most difficult group"
• Manuel Pellegrini believes match would have been different had City scored first
• Final Group D games: Manchester City v Gladbach, Sevilla v Juventus (8 December)

Massimiliano Allegri, Juventus coach
I've got to compliment the lads on going through with a game to spare in a very difficult, if not the most difficult, group in the Champions League – including Borussia Mönchengladbach, who had a great season in the Bundesliga last year, City who have great quality, and the winners of the last two Europa Leagues, so a lot of credit must go to the lads. This is also my sixth successful qualification, and I didn't want to stop at five, so I have to thank the lads for this gift too.

Juve have won three in a row in the league and that has got to be normal for us. We have got through in the Champions League too, and that is not so easy.

I have decisions to make, and the fact Alex Sandro had a great game and then Patrice Evra came on and did a good job with his experience is great news for me, because I can rely on [both of] them. One player cannot play 50 games a season so we've got to consider the way we rotate them.

It was a match with chances at both ends – we could have gone 2-0 up, and straight after they could have made it 1-1. It was a great game with a high skill level. We were not through before tonight as Sevilla still had a chance, so we were at risk – City are one of the best teams in Europe. We could have had it all to play for in Seville, so I'm delighted with the lads for getting this win for us.

Manuel Pellegrini, Man. City manager
We had chances and it was so important to score the first goal and we had that chance with Fernando, but we didn't take it. It's not an easy stadium or an easy team to play against, and in a difficult moment it was not a bad performance – we have so many injuries but tonight we had personality. There are many different reasons [for my team selection], but I think we started with the correct players.

Both games against Juventus were very close; maybe in both games they were a little bit lucky to win. Both in Manchester and here, both teams would have deserved a win. Juventus have very good players and it's a difficult place to visit – they have won four league titles in a row and were in the final last season, so they are a very good team.

We've got to wait to see how Juventus get on in Sevilla now – Sevilla have to win that game. I hope that Sevilla will win their game and we will beat Borussia to top the group.

We saw a very strong Barcelona team yesterday, but it's difficult to analyse the whole of the Champions League. We hope to have a little bit more luck in the draw for the last 16.